WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL RICHARD E GERSTEIN JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG. THIS BLOG IS DEDICATED TO JUSTICE BUILDING RUMOR, HUMOR, AND A DISCUSSION ABOUT AND BETWEEN THE JUDGES, LAWYERS AND THE DEDICATED SUPPORT STAFF, CLERKS, COURT REPORTERS, AND CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS WHO LABOR IN THE WORLD OF MIAMI'S CRIMINAL JUSTICE. THIS BLOG HAS BEEN CALLED "THE DEFINITIVE BLOG ON MIAMI CRIMINAL LAW" BY THE NY TIMES, THE WASHINGTON POST, THE POPE, AND DONALD TRUMP WHO ALSO ONCE SAID IT WAS "REALLY GREAT". POST YOUR COMMENTS, OR SEND RUMPOLE A PRIVATE EMAIL AT HOWARDROARK21@GMAIL.COM

Thursday, March 29, 2007

THE USUAL SUSPECTS

POLITICAL FRIDAY CONTINUESItem:“I would never, ever make a change in a United States Attorney position for political reasons, or if it would in any way jeopardize an ongoing serious investigation. I just would not do it.”Alberto Gonzalez testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee January 18, 2007

Item:Gonzalez’s Chief Of Staff D. Kyle Sampson ranked every United States Attorney for purposes of considering who to fire and replace. Chicago US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald was ranked in the group of US Attorneys who “have not distinguished themselves.” Ask Scooter Libby about Fitzgerald’s abilities as a prosecutor.

Item:The Senate renewed the Patriot Act containing a little known item allowing the President to appoint US Attorneys without Senate confirmation. This month the senate voted to revoke that provision of the act.

Item:David Iglesias, US Attorney for New Mexico, was fired after complaints by US Senator Pete Domenici that Iglesias was not quick enough to complete election fraud investigations of several democrats before the last election in November. Iglesias said Domenici called him at home to discuss the pending investigation before the November election. Iglesias refused to discuss the matter. Domenici complained to President Bush several times. No Democrats were indicted before or after the election. When New Mexico State Republican Party chairman Allen Weh mentioned Iglesias to Karl Rove, Rove replied “he’s gone.” Iglesias was one of the 8 fired US Attorneys. Iglesias recently wrote an Op Ed piece for the NY Times in which he stated that his office had a 95% conviction rate, had filed a record number of prosecutions, and had conducted and prosecuted the largest political corruption cases in New Mexico’s history.

Item:San Diego US Attorney Carol Lam was fired for not being loyal enough. Lam’s political investigation put long time Republican Congressman Duke Cunningham in jail for massive fraud with, and kickbacks from, defense contractors. Lam was continuing the investigation into other Republican lobbyists and donors at the time she was fired.

Item:US Attorney Chris Christie of New Jersey was not fired. Just before the November elections, Christie announced a high profile investigation into Democratic Senator Bob Menendez. The Republicans would have held the senate if Menendez has lost the election. The announcement of the investigation was quickly incorporated into last minute attack ads by Republicans against Menendez. Had the ads been successful, the Democrats would not be in the position of having the Senate Judiciary Committee issue subpoenas into the US Attorney scandal.

Rumpole opines:We are witnessing the politicization of the federal prosecutors office on a scale never seen before. Not content with awarding prominent Republicans with US Attorney positions, the Bush administration has sought to influence the prosecutors appointed to those positions to conduct investigations against Democrats during election periods for the purposes of maintaining the Republicans grip on power. The result is not just the current scandal, but the public’s loss of confidence in the integrity of the prosecutor’s office.

Scene: An airport in Africa. The fog is rolling in. An airplane roars and is about to take off in the midnight air.

Two men in trench coats face each other. One man (Major Strasser) is dialing a phone to stop the plane from taking off. The other man (Rick) tells Strasser to put down the phone. Strasser and Rick fire their weapons almost simultaneously. Strasser’s shot is wide, Rick’s is true, and Major Strasser falls down, mortally wounded.

Through it all, the local police Captain, Captain Renault witnesses the entire event. Seconds later Renaults officers arrive in force.

The New Jersey Democratic senator is Bob Menendez. Bob Martinez was the Florida Democrat who ran for governor as a Republican, left us a legacy of taxes and kept the Turnpike tolls after the highway bonds what been paid off.

The New Jersey Democratic senator is Bob Menendez. Bob Martinez was the Florida Democrat who ran for governor as a Republican, left us a legacy of taxes and kept the Turnpike tolls after the highway bonds had been paid off.

Grow up 7:29 or forever remain in your parochial never-never-land. These things have a lot to do with being an American and being a member of the American judicial system. If we allow the "Gonzales strategy" to continue, our justice system will be no better than that of the Third World that Gonzales supposedly fled away from.

Don't forget Tim Griffin who was appointed to replace the sitting U.S.A. in E.D. Arkansas. Griffin's main qualifications were working for Karl Rove during the 2000 election and helping suppress or "cage" (as he himself characterized it) African-American voters and directing op-research on Al Gore. The Republicans knew that this guy would never make it through a Senate confirmation hearing and used the Patriot Act to slip him into the position. Gonzales actually lied to Sen. Mark Pryor and assured him that Griffin would face Senate confirmation when e-mails now show that Gonzales had no intention of sending this loser in front of the Senate.

You people are so lame. Rumpole told you all you need to know. Remember how he used to say "the email is the key"? Think key as in cypher. Howardroark is a red herring. It has nothing to do with the character in a novel. 21 and Howardroark give you a key to a cypher which when used properly gives you a new web site address.

Thats why Rumpole posted the picture of Krynos- the CIA code. Not to have you break it- to clue you to use the email as a key to a cypher.

Last week, Broward State Attorney Michael Satz voluntarily disqualified himself and asked Crist to assign the case to a state attorney in another county.

Satz said he wanted to ``avoid any appearance of conflict of interest or impropriety.''

The investigation and possible prosecution of Broward Circuit Lawrence Korda, recently known for hearing a paternity case involving Anna Nicole Smith, will now be overseen by Miami-Dade's Katherine Fernandez Rundle.

Korda was ticketed by Hollywood cops March 18, on a misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession in Stanley Goldman Park in Hollywood.

For two hours this afternoon, I took part in a statewide conference call, (this was about the fifth one in the last two months), as part of my work with the JAC Subcommittee for FACDL Statewide. Brian Tannebaum and Richard Hersch are two other members that were part of the call and both of them have been actively lobbying in Tallahassee on the CAC issue (as well as many other issues involving the criminal defense bar).

Here is the latest:

First, the JAC has been successful in getting the Legislative Budget Commission to approve an additional $10,000,000 for criminal conflicts and $3,000,000 for dependency cases. That means there will no lapse in payment for bills sent in to JAC at least through May 31, 2007. The fiscal year ends on June 30th and that means we still need to find a bit more money to get us through that final month.

Second, there are still two CAC bills working their way through the two legislative branches. Senate Bill 1088 and House Bill 7083 take widely different approaches in attempting to resolve the outstanding CAC problems.

The Senate bill creates a quasi second public defender's office; called the Offices of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel, five of them throughout the state, corresponding to the five district court areas. Each district would be run by a Regional Counsel, who would then hire Assistant Regional Counsel attorneys to handle the conflict cases that the P.D. conflicts out on. Only when there exists a third conflict or more, would this plan then use the private bar through the Registry (wheel) system.

I won't go into all of the details of the rest of the bill, but suffice it to say, it all stinks, we don’t like it and we are lobbying against the bill.

The House bill, transfers the CAC program from the JAC back to the Public Defender's Offices in each of the 20 circuits. The P.D. would choose one of four models: cross-conflict, private contract, second P.D.'s office, or Registry (what we have now).

It is a better piece of legislation, or better said, the lesser of two evils.

The BIGGER problem is not the Delivery Model that is chosen, but instead, the funding of the plan and the adequate payment of fees to the attorneys participating in the plan.

FACDL's position has always been the same: the plan must insure that we are able to provide attorneys that are qualified to represent the clients and it must adequately pay the attorney a reasonable fee for their services.

Clearly, the legislature does not care about either of those goals, and the second goal is not even on their radar.

The proposed fees to be paid to the CAC attorneys under either of these plans is ridiculously low. Much worse in the Senate than the House bill.

There are many FACDL members working very hard throughout the state on these issues and they will be devoting a tremendous amount of time out of their normal law practices between now and the end of the legislative session.

There are several possible outcomes: we may not get a consensus bill this year and the entire issue would then be revisited in 2008; the Senate or House bill could become law; or, we might not have even seen what the final version of a bill will look like yet. The likelihood is, that all of this will end up in Conference Committee, where, in the final 48 hours of the 60 day session, bargaining and compromising and trade-offs will take place and something will come out of it. Who knows what that something will look like???

One thing is for sure, there will be change. We have always stated the obvious: you should not be making your living off of CAC cases. And anybody who has been doing that, well, let's just say, you better start planning to learn how to do a real estate closing or a divorce case -and learn it real soon.

For the rest of the bar that takes CAC work, and I am sure that this message is for the overwhelming majority of you, those who supplement their practices with CAC cases, FACDL promises that we will do everything we can to continue to educate the legislators on the issues and try to get them to do the right thing.

One final note: I have spoken regularly with Chief Judge Farina and he is committed to doing whatever he can to convince the elected house and senate members to keep our present system in tact in so far as it provides for quality representation with reasonable fees paid to the attorneys. He has been a very strong supporter of the CAC program and one of the main reasons why we have been able to increase the fees paid to CAC attorneys since 2004.

Thanks for your time, your understanding and your commitment to the criminal justice system. Please don't ever forget, we are "Liberty's Last Champion".

We thank Rick Freedman and his FACDL brothers and sisters for their work on this important issue.

Baseball Opening Day Tomorrow.

We could care less about and L&T case in Coral Gables. Enuf is enuf- when the Judge King thing is resolved, let us know, until then, stop with the posts.

We also removed a post critical of Al Milian. Enuf is enuf. The man has said his piece several dozen times, is working (quite successfully we hear) as a criminal defense attorney. He cannot be all that he has been made out to be if he is out there - a former prosecutor- laboring for justice as a defense attorney, just like most of the rest of us do every day. His actions many years ago are in the past. He is entitled to be treated based on his current work as a lawyer. Move on (.org?)

The stars were out last night for the Lisa Leesperance for Judge shin-ding in west dade. Hot shot lawyers, big money men with cigars and blondes in low cut dresses on their arms, and community leaders were all in attendence. Also, her spanish is improving, as she takes to the Spanish Radio airwaves.

You remove a post critical of strong-armed Al Milian writing a letter to the editors of the Miami Herald in support of strong-armed Broward Chief Judge Dale Ross. Sorry, but that is fair comment! Your removing that post does not meet any of your "editorial discretion" criteria.

Bob Martinez was mayor of Tampa from 1979 to 1986, governor of Florida from 1987 to 1991, then Drug Czar from 1991 to 1993. And remains currently senior policy analyst at Holland and Knight. Governor Crist just named the DEP building in Tampa, the Bob Martinez Center, earlier this month.

My Dear Good DR- re-do the post without the nasty language and it will remain up. We may well post in defense of Mr. Milian. It was your use of four letter pejorative words that caused the post to be removed. Can you tell us the medical school that teaches its physicians to write in such a vulgar manner?

Martinez, Melendez, potatoes, potatohs, to you we are all the same...and by the way, the AG didn't come from a Third World country, he was born right in this country...if you're going to be racist, at least get your facts straight...God forbid in your liberal "we know what's good for you better than you do" minds that anyone who is black or latino should be a Republican.

Some good news out of Texas! The little girl, Shanequa Cotton, is free. Seems racism was an issue. Shocking that in such a normal place like Texas that racism is alive and well in their justice system! see article below. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-racism-investigation,0,3736061.story

Al sure as hell doesn't need me to defend him. And, he'd be pissed at all who post anonymously. But I will say this. I've known the man for close to a decade and flat out, he's a good person and one helluva an attorney. Further he has the character to post his real name and honest viewpoints here in Rumpoleville. Like me.

" There are many FACDL members working very hard throughout the state on these issues and they will be devoting a tremendous amount of time out of their normal law practices between now and the end of the legislative session."-RICK FREEDMAN

dude, why do you have to pepper your reports of good work with self-laudatory comments. true service is done without the need for patting yourself (and others) on the back in public.

the fact that there are many people working hard across the state on the PCAC issue is obvious. its a noble effort, but the work itself is the reward.

I didn't know you worked on Saturday? Otherwise, I would have scheduled another session with you - for clearly I need it.

The picking on me starting in the third grade, when Ms. Albright embarrassed me in front of the entire class for not learning how to write in cursive - but we can discuss all of that is our next session.

For now, my self-laudatory comments - were comments noting the contributions of time and effort of many fine attorneys working on this issue throughout the state - that were not self-laudatory.

I would like you to address a serious LOCAL issue: Judge Larry Schwartz and his complete lack of work ethic. Judge Schwartz was recently re-elected by the people of Dade County to do a serious job, namely, to be a Circuit Court Judge. In his position as a Circuit Court Judge, he has been assigned to the Criminal Division. And in the Criminal Division of the Circuit Court, we have something called trials. Or should I say, every other Circuit Court Judge assigned to the Criminal Division has trials. Say what you will about Judges Adrien, Thomas, Areces, Perez, et al, but they all try cases. Judge Schwartz does not. I speak to the ASAs and APDs in Judge Schwartz' division and their case loads are out of control. This is unaccemptable and it is not justice.

Rumpole, Judge Schwartz reads your blog, as evidenced by his not infrequent posting here. I think it is time that you wrote a post about the abysmal state of affairs in his courtroom. Every trial week--A, B, or C--it's the same old story--anything that rolls for trial is either court continued or sent to backup. I was standing on line in Judge Schwartz' courtroom recently, and witnessed an APD asking Judge Schwartz why he couldn't try an old murder case that he was sending to backup. Judge Schwartz' ON THE RECORD reply? "I just can't" This kind of shear laziness is unacceptable. I think it's time that you, Rumpole, and the readers of your blog, started a campaign to shame Judge Schwartz into trying cases and reducing his astronomical audit. A trial watch, perhaps. Lets see how many weeks it takes for Judge Schwartz to try his first case. And then his second. I really believe that the only way things will change in there is if his laziness and disinterest in trying cases is exposed to the light of day.

Signed,

A dissatisfied voter who wishes she voted for Locke n' Load (why is she called that, just out of curiousity?)

I'm not so sure your critique is fair and balanced. I'm sure Judge Schwartz tries cases. I don't believe it is accurate to just report he said he wasn't trying an old murder case by just saying "I just can't." I know Judge Schwartz gets to the building very early-like 7:30 am, and works very hard. But your post is up, and we can see responses. I'd be interested to know his case load. That's one way of settling this issue.

Each week, a sheet of paper comes out that lists every criminal felony judge's caseload, and by how many cases it has increased or decreased over the past week. Every judge gets it. I happened to see it a couple of months ago and I can report that Judge Schwartz was number one with over 1000 cases on his audit. I don't remember the exact number, but I do remember that he was the only judge in quadruple digits. Judge Pineiro, not surprisingly, was number 21 with something like 400, I seem to recall.

If you don't know how to play the caseload game you don't deserve to be a judge.

I worked in an office where folks pulled their own assignments from the queue. The "crafty" folk would pull the easy assignments and leave the hard ones to the fools. At the end of the month, Crafty would be getting praised for her miraculous ability to close so many assignments.

The question of work ethic is certainly valid, but it is not a question to be answered by a single number.

One of the attorneys in Schwartz' division (I won't say PD or ASA) recently told me that his/her caseload was more than double the caseload of any of his/her colleagues in the same spot (A, B, or C) in his/her office.

O.K. perhaps I was a bit to harsh in my words. What I truly meant to say is that I love this blog and that you are the greatest author of all time, funny, witty and just the greatest blogger of all time.

Did I mention you are the greatest blogger of all time?

***********************

Batman said and reported:

Batman said... First of all please see §83.232 Florida Statutes, because commercial tenancies are different than residential. If an answer interposing payment as a defense were filed Tenant must file a motion to determine what, if any, amount should be placed in the registry.

Failure of the tenant to pay the rent into the court registy shall be deemed an absolute waiver of the tenant's defenses and the landlord is entitled to "an immediate default for possession without further notice or hearing thereon." In case you non-lawyers don't understand, that means EX PARTE.

No answer alleging payment was ever filed. The appeal as filed does not allege that the default was improper based upon an allegation of payment. The record shows the tenant did not ask for a hearing to determine the amount to be paid into the court registry and in fact Tenant admitted non-payment and vactated the premises. (Tenant later alleged that he made a late payment by way of a check that the landlord did not cash knowing that it would waive its right to seek eviction.) Based upon this admission and the failure to follow proper procedure the court was justified in entering a default and final judgment for posssession.

As to the money damage issue, it may well be that the court erred. Believe it or not judges do that sometimes. That does not make them evil or bad judges. It means that is why we have appellate courts.

I will repeat what I have said at the end of every response - all of this was set in motion by a dead-beat tenant. Had you paid your rent, paid it on time, this would not have happened. Take some responsibility for your own failures. Stop blaming the court system, or even a single judge, for your troubles.

By the way, could I have the location of those premises, I may wish to relocate the Batcave and it appears there is a vacancy.

Friday, March 30, 2007 2:03:00 PM

**********************

The other guy said

Anonymous said... batman you defend the Judge for making a judgment for money as a mistake and not a evil person. So is the tenant he made a business mistake as a young man who tried his first business venture and failed. Yes a mistake. he vanated the premises and told the court he did and asked for a fair hearing to determine the legal fees he owed the landlord. Simply a honest guy who ran into bad time with money. The Judge holds a hearing and for the first time the landlord orally ask for accelerated rent of $60,000.00 which was never pled in the papers or filings with the court. Had the landlord pled this the tenant would have stayed in the premises and paid the money in the registry and fought eviction. Since all the landlord wanted was past due rent and legal cost the tenant decided that the best way out of a horrible situation was to leave and pay the landlord what he demanded in the complaint.

Now Judge King says different and will not after default allow for oral motion for accellerated rent of $60-K well thats just not right.

Ps. I am not any of the parties just someone upset that this happened to a young very honest person who wanted to pay the landlord all that they asked for in the four corners of the complaint.

Again you say the judge makes mistakes but you dont say the same for a young honest tenant who could not pay rent because his business went down the tubes.

Earlier this week, you suggested we "think outside the box." You have mentioned that phrase on several occasions.

Were you aware that this is a British TV channel known as "The Box?" It was established in the 80's and was devoted primarily to music videos and other music-related programming.

Coincidentally (if you believe in coincidence), The Box made its way across the pond and found its place in, of all places, Miami. It later became known as the now-familiar MTV2, and marked the early beginning of such local artists as Miami Boyz and 2 Live Crew.

What say you Rumpole? Have you ever strayed from the safe surroundings of the REGJB to represent the infamous Luther Campbell?

Get your movies straight. "Round up the usual suspects" is from Casablanca. "The Usual Suspects" used that title as a nod to the classic Bogie flick. Soze was found in storage in Soul Plane and is doing time in GTMO.

I'm glad Gonzales is a Republican 10:33, but I don't know why you are so proud of him. If there has ever been a bigger imcopetent, lapdog, affirmative-action hack in government, I don't know who it is. You should apply for A.G. when Gonzales finally resigns, since I'm sure that you (or just about anybody else) could do a better job than him.

Korda will get PTD s/c drug course. It would not be special treatment, just what any other first offender in Dade County would be offered for a marijuana possession charge. Or he may just get a straight nolle prosse if the officers get caught in the Hollywood police scandal.

Being deferential to the judge to kiss his rear isn't going to work this time - "I'm sure he tries cases" is a guess, and as we all know the criteria of any good witness is "the ability to see and observe the things they testify about."

A "C" ASA should have no more than 200 cases if even that. The C in his division has like 400+ I think, which is likely the majority of the 1000 count.

The cuban bar association with 85% anglo members would like to restate that it has accepted the Apologies of Jeri B. Cohen.

In other news Univision with 85% cuban viewers and zero anglo viewers will not support JB Cohen for re-election.

Does Ivan, George or Juan have a chance against JB Cohen? For the answer we turn to Juan D'Arce of periclulas political consulting services:

Q. Can JB Cohen be beat.

Juan D'Arce: Yes because I am behind the push to remove JB Cohen. I moved to the USA when I was 8 years old and have granduated from FIU as the President of the FIU Rebublicans. JB Cohen is a democrat and she must go. The Cuban community is rebublican. My new slogan is:

Susanna Nesmith: I am standing out side the Juvenile Justice center waiting for word from Juan D'Arce as to his feelings about Judge Jeri B. Cohen entering injunctive releif against Juan D'Arce that any future children of Mr. D'Arce shall be placed in protective custody. The reason given is that comlete morons should not have access to children.

Rumpole, those last comments should be erased according to your policy on name calling and so forth. Besides, he is not a Judge and thus, is out of the scope of this blog as you have mentioned in the past.

Mr. Alvarez was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico but has called Miami home since 1980. He was raised in Coral Gables and Westchester and graduated Miami Coral Park Senior High, Florida International University (F.I.U.), and St. Thomas University School of Law. Since his youth, he has been engaged in public and community service. This includes seven years as a volunteer legal guardian. In 2006, he became one of the recipients of the Team Metro "Making a Difference" award for community service.

Another example of The Miami Herald being a crap media source. No mention about her Anti-Cuban remark on this article. No wonder The Miami Herald is considered trash be many.

CHILD CUSTODY FIGHTCuban girl's fate in veteran judge's handsJudge Jeri Beth Cohen, who is handling a custody dispute over a 4-year-old Cuban girl, is considered a pioneer who mixes social services with the law.BY JAY WEAVERjweaver@MiamiHerald.com

The Jeri Cohen incident should be taken to heart by all of us in this community. It teaches all of us involved in the system in this community, whether an attorneys, a law enforcement official, and above all judges, have to watch your p's and q's, and check our sensitivity and prejudices. And yes, the prejudices flow any which way, so it applies to us all.

With that said, as a Cuban-American, with the battle scars and decorations of the struggle, I can live with, accept, and perhaps even forgive Jeri Cohen, for her comment, more so than some others, be they attorneys or judges, who kill us with their sub rosa manipulations and machinations, particularly from the bench, all whilst smiling and patronizing!

Harbored prejudices are not as so readily present in the Criminal Division, but venture over to the Civil or Family Division and you can see the evidence. What do I mean, just try litigating against any non-minority lawyer, specially if they are with one of the large firms and see how the non-minority lawyer gets the courtesy you as a minority are not often afforded; try appearing before some of these judges on a contested motion or even a scheduling issue, and see how some of these judges handle it. Is it as blatant as the Jeri C comment, perhaps not, but it is more sinister and odious, at least in my book.

I, for one, can accept a slip of the tongue, particularly in a moment of frustration in the environment of the Juvenile Division, we all have those moments. The person who lets me know what they are honestly thinking or their honest opinion, albeit it may give me cause for pause, an insight to who or what they are, and I may not like it, has potential for redemption. On the other hand, the one who smiles and often patronizes, while loading the deck against me, as a minority lawyer, or my minority clients deserves neither my respect nor my tolerance.

Should Jeri C get opposition, I for one am not prepared to endorse the opposition yet.

I subscribe to the believe that our life and destiny are a product of Divine Providence. Some readers will understand and appreciate my beliefs, others will laugh, so be it. But consider this, at a critical point in her judicial career, Jeri C has gets a hot potato of a case, which causes all to flash back to her impetuous comment about Cubans, go figure!

To her benefit, those of us who, and there are many among us, who subscribe to the notion of Divine Providence also believe in causing change by promoting human understanding, so we understand that a momentary lapse in judgment is human, and could serve as a catalyst for bigger things. I think that the Jeri C’s incident has already benefitted this community, by causing some to endeavor towards a higher level of sensitivity, and more importantly, as a community some have come together to promote candidates who embrace and are indeed a integral part of this multi-ethnic/multi-cultural community. So you see, if you look for the positive, rather that the negative, you can cause improvement.

In closing, as a vocal Cuban-American and veteran of the struggle for respect of all minorities, not only the Cuban bar, and a tireless activist for equal justice, I am not prepared to support a challenge against Jerri C for her comments.

According to that article, CABA never filed a complaint with the JQC. Though, the statute of limitations has not expired because it actually ends after one year from the last day the Judge served on the bench. Meaning, anyone who runs against Jeri Beth Cohen can file a complaint and hold the system (and this blog) to the fire. If she can apologize, why can't others? Interesting issue here.

This is good stuff, but a $200K fine would settle the issue. Also, getting Hector as your advocate speaks so little for Judge Cohen.

''I agree with you that my statements were absolutely unacceptable,'' Cohen, the mother of three, wrote in a letter. ``I am humiliated and embarrassed by my own behavior and the example it would set for my children and the community.''

''Everyone was convinced that she was sorry that she said something that wasn't appropriate and that it wasn't who she was,'' said Hector Lombana, a former Cuban American Bar Association president.

Opposition will come from being associated to Lombada. As a matter of fact, anyone who associates (or receives a donation) with him can expect it. The man is a trader to all Cubans.

The woman has to pay and you know it. Regardless, she is going down and you know it. The few readers to this blog cannot save her. A slip. Man, she is a Judge. She knows better. Why is she held a victim and others the aggressors when making mistakes? Because of the double standard she has to pay.

What bothers me (and I am no fan of former Judge Ivan Hernandez) is that Judge Hernandez's Judicial Assistant makes anti-semetic comments and Judge Hernandez is tortured for it and lost his seat. When Judge Jeri B. Cohen makes anti-cuban comments she is praised and gets re-elected in 2002.

I am concerned that a Judges JA is held to a higher standard than a Judge.

Hernandez didn't lose his seat because D'Arce made anti-semetic comments; there was no conspiracy. Jews don't have anywhere near that kind of influence in Miami-Dade County anymore. Hernandez lost because of a myriad of issues other than Juan's comments.

I do not believe Juan ever even made those comments. As I see it, Slom was so desperate, he used that to get sympathy. He knew he was going to get ousted if he did not do something desperate. Everyone knows Juan is friends with all sorts of people, including us Jews. As a matter of fact, my wife and I (both Jewish) have had him over for dinner with his girlfriend. I have no complaints. He is a nice person who I call a friend. It was all smoke and mirrors from Slom. Slanderous if you ask me from a Judge. There seems to be a double standard for Jeri Cohen. Yes, I am no fan of Jeri.

Actually, the article you mentioned devotes a good bit of space to the fall-out from Judge Cohen's statement. If it's an issue that concerns you so much (either the statement or the perceived inadequacy of the Miami Herald) why didn't you read the whole article?

Susannah Nesmith, the article does not lie or push the bias of the issue as you did on your articles. They could have made it out to look as bad as it was with the actual quote of what she said, but you have no guts. Just like you never printed anything that damage the so called accusers, but included any and all lies on Judge Hernandez. This is why the Miami Herald is not liked. No truth in reporting and we all know you are friends with Leifman.

I think you will get fired and the job place will suffer for your lies. Too bad for you.